2009-2010

News Release

REF NO.: 0

SUBJECT: Grenfell: British artist to offer course on popular intaglio printmaking process

DATE: October 28, 2009

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Charlotte Jones
Acting Director
Sir Wilfred Grenfell College Art Gallery
www.swgc.mun.ca/artgallery
(709) 637-6209 
     British artist Tom Hammick will offer a one-day workshop at Grenfell College where he’ll demonstrate and teach drypoint – the simplest and most direct manner of setting down a line on a plate that can be printed.
     He will be visiting Corner Brook for the opening reception of his solo exhibition, Never Far Inland: Paintings and Prints, Thursday, Nov. 5, 5-7 p.m.
     The drypoint technique consists of merely drawing directly onto a printing plate with a sharp instrument known as drypoint needle. The plate is then inked, dampened paper placed on top, and run through the etching press to transfer the image to paper. The lines of the resultant image are rich, soft and velvety.
     Hammick will teach the technique using chine collee and watercolour. Chine collee is a technique which allows the artist to add an overall tone and sometimes texture to the printed image. A sheet of thin paper is affixed to the printing paper when it is run through the etching press with the printing plate.
     No previous printmaking experience is required. Participants are asked to bring a sketchbook and pencil. All other materials are supplied.
     Tom Hammick’s visit is made possible through the generous support of Canada Council for the Arts.

About the artist:
     Tom Hammick was born in Tidworth, England, and currently lives and works as an artist and lecturer in fine arts (painting and printmaking) at the University of Brighton and at Maidstone College of Art in Canterbury. Hammick holds a BA (honours) in art history from the University of Manchester and a BA (honours) in fine art (first class) and MA in printmaking from Camberwell College of Art in London. Hammick’s work has been exhibited in solo and group shows in London and throughout England as well as in Dublin, Halifax and New York. Hammick’s work is included in many collections throughout the UK, Northern Ireland, Canada and the United States including the Arts Council of Northern Ireland; British Museum, Prints & Drawings; Yale Center for British Art, CT, USA and De Beers, London. Hammick’s work has also been extensively reviewed in publications in London and throughout England, Canada and the US. In 2005, Hammick completed a residency through the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador with St. Michael’s Printshop in St. John’s.

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